With tour dates ahead of them and other miscellaneous events in the near future, Calexico are on the way to release their ninth album 'Edge Of The Sun', out on Berlin's City Slang in April this year and featuring various collaborators.

Calexico release 'Edge Of The Sun' in April

Calexico are set to unveil 'Edge Of The Sun', which follows up their 2013 live release 'Spiritoso' and the previous studio album 'Algiers' from 2012. In true Calexico spirit, as they are well-known for their ever changing line-up and huge touring band ensemble, 'Edge Of The Sun' features a huge variety of special guests, beginning with Iron & Wine's Sam Beam - having previously worked on their 2008 album 'Carried to Dust' - who features on the track 'Bullets and Rocks'.

Recommended Albums... New York garage-rock new-wavers The Strokes are on album number five and Comedown Machine marks a return to form for Julian Casablancas & co. Whilst they may not be trying to replicate the pared down sound of their now-iconic debut This Is It, they have at least re-captured some of that raw energy. With a sound now owing as much to 80s synth bands such as A-Ha and Human League as it does to their beloved garage rock idols.

As a result, The Strokes, circa 2013 finds the band fully rejuvenated and seemingly enjoying themselves. They may struggle to regain the popularity that they enjoyed when the band first emerged but they have at least done themselves proud with Comedown Machine.

A Week In Reviews... It's hard to believe that's it's been well over a year since M83 released their single 'Midnight City' and signalled their long-awaited move up to alternative music's big leagues. Going gold in America on sales, and featuring heavily on hit UK TV shot Made In Chelsea, the song precluded album Hurry Up We're Dreaming reaching the US album charts top 20. Our reviewer found that, with 2012 now drawing to a close, the French group's party was very much still in full swing. "'Midnight City', as expected, gets the biggest cheer of the night before an epic version of 'Couleurs' brings the set to a close, and if your mind wasn't already blown, this unbelievable wall of noise was the final knockout blow" he wrote in gushing praise.

Away from the live arena and back to the studio, former Mercury nominees The Unthanks doled out another uncompromising slab of their ethereal folk. Songs From The Shipyards is the group's third release within a year, and was initially a soundtrack to a film documenting their local North East England's shipbuilding industry history. Andrew Lockwood took this one on, and found a band in the form of their life seven albums into their career: "The album, as you might expect, is full of character and love" he wrote. "The songs are performed with great care and attention and each note stirs the emotions as it recounts a slice of Shipbuilding history. Regardless of whether you have seen the accompanying film this set of songs works wonderfully well and once again shows what a prodigious and prolific talent The Unthanks are."

Band Of Horses' fourth album Mirage Rock is a record that isn't quite sure what it wants to achieve, but it seems perfectly happy to do so without sounding directionless. Much of the production sheen that was a hallmark of predecessor Infinite Arms has been removed in favour of a looser more country feel. It seems a more intimate affair, but lacks some of the punch that made Band Of Horses quite so compelling. Ultimately it's the sound of a band having fun without wanting to repeat themselves. In a word it's a little underwhelming.

However opener and first single 'Knock Knock' doesn't really indicate Mirage Rock's more laid back tendencies. Instead it feels like an updated 60's pop song. The drums and backing vocals along with handclaps bring to mind a strange indie-rock mash-up that piques your interest. It's a great introduction to a record and although the lyrics are lightweight it's clear that Glyn Johns' production work helps it to barrel along at quite a pace. If Mirage Rock had decided to follow this template over its relatively brief 40 minutes, it may well seem less difficult to love the record.

Among Ben Bridwell's nostalgic southern excursions ('Slow Cruel Hands Of Time', 'Shut-in Tourist', for example) are brief flashes of more memorable material. 'A Little Biblical' features some great lyrics; "Welcome to another world, look at the water, look at whatever. We broke the last one apart, put it back together, it didn't matter." It's a carefree guitar led pop song that muses on growing up and moving on without feeling heavy handed.

Mid-set, alongside Crazy Horse, Neil Young announced that “We’re joining forces up here,” just as Foo Fighter'sDave Grohl and Dan Auerbach graced the stage to collaborate with Young on an adrenaline and feedback fuelled rendition of "Rockin’ in the Free World."

Neil Young, Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters joined Band Of Horses and The Black Keys among others to perform on the Grand Lawn at Central Park in New York City. This was all in aid of the Global Citizen Festival which supports a plethora of charities including World Vision and World Food Program USA.

As well as bands and solo artists, the event held brief speeches between sets from outspoken celebrities such as Selena Gomez and Olivia Wilde of House and TRON:Legacy fame. Dave Grohl seemed to love every second of their performance, lamenting however, that it may be a while before they take to the stage again, saying “We don't have any shows after this. This is where we play as many songs as we can in a short period of time, because, honestly, I don't know when we're gonna do it again”, as reported by Rolling Stone.